The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-09-10
SEES IN A DIFFERENT WAY
Warden Patten as a Red-H0t RefOrmer
and as Jack Towards Successor.
As the Former He Affirms that Towards De-
felt Amounts to Fully $4,000, but He
Now Says 1t Is Only So, 700.

Warden Patten, of the Southern Prison, for
the sake of his party and the ex-warden of no.
torious remembrance, Jack Howard, informs
Governor Gray, in report of his transactions
since he has been in Office, that the Indebtedness
of the Howard administration only SO, 900.
He separates this from what he calls Towards
shortage, which Patten puts at $7.700. When
the House investigating committee was looking
into this matter at the prison last February,
no member of it denounced Howard more
vigorously than Patten. He howled about the
defalcation being outrage and that the Demo
cratic party could not afford to condone the
thefts, as he called them. Some members spoke
of them defalcations Patten said it was out
right stealing. and he intended to probe the
matter to the bottom. When the report of the
testimony and the committees conclusions were
ready, Patten was eager to sign it. and to-day
his name, among the signatures of the commit
tee, appears second and next to that of Chair
man Sinclair; hence the report can be accepted
Mr.. Patterns opinion of Towards transactions
when he himself was pulling the wires for the
succession.
Now Mr.. Patten, after being in Office some
months. during which. SO far as the public knows,
his adminstr alton has been creditable, seeks to
hedge on the conclusions he reached as red
not r6IOrmof. linen, Win Tue Otner cOmmtlteo-
men, he subscribed to this finding in the figures
they obtained to Towards receipts and ex-
pendtures Balance to be accounted for
500. 035. TO-" Another significant paragraph in
this report is, 1.-THE bank and check-book of the
warden used in the transaction of his official
business would have been of great value in
making this examination. and would perhaps
have shown transactions impossible to arrive at
in any other way; but. as he, the said warden,
refused to comply, with this demand of your
committee, to produce said books, the investl-
CATION was made without them.
Mr.. Patten, in February, was of the opinion
that the unpaid monthly wages for November.
which money Howard drew from the State
treasury, should be charged against the warden,
for the reason that the same had not been
accounted for on the books of the prison"
The important conclusion that Patten arrived
at with the committee was the following: 1T is
impossible at this time on account OF the irregu-
lar manner of book keeping and on account of
the refusal of said warden to produce his bank
and check-books, and other books, papers and
vouchers to arrive at the true financial condi
ton of the prison; but from the partial examn-
alton we were enabled to make, and from in
from reliable source as to outstand-
ing accounts and moneys received and not &C
counted for and populations, your committee
is of the opinion that there is a deficit amount
ing to 49, 00O This deficiency does not en-
brace Mr.. A. j. Towards entire term of Office
warden, such an examination would require
eral weeks, but it is evident that the deficit for
his twelve years of service would aggregate a
much larger sum, consisting of moneys received
and unaccounted for. false entries and omis-
sions."
For this report Warden Patten is much
spopsible as any other member of the commit
tee. but now for some peculiar reason he in
forms the Governor that Howards shortage was
only 81, 700. In this, however, he failed to men
ton the brlck-yard account, which the expert.
John w. Coons, says showed shortage of $14,
900. He does not mention the fact that Howard
exhausted last years appropriation of $4,000
by the first of August; that he had about $685..
900 additional to carry up to the credit of two
years in December. Mr.. Patten, in support of
the Governor. who had previously told a report
er that the shortage wasn't more than SO 600,
kindly terms outstanding bills which Howard
should have paid with the money he drew from
the State treas ary Indebtedness. While
the State will have to pay 1t, who is to REIN
burse the State for the money Howard had for
this purpose2 Mr. Patten may be able to
plain why this unknown amount should be
called debt and not a shortage.